Credit: UniversalAs of this week, Universal Orlando Resort guests will no longer be able to enjoy a theme park staple: paper maps.
Theme parks across the world are on a mission to become more sustainable. Universal is no exception, implementing multiple procedures to reduce waste and conserve water, and switching out all of its iconic studio tour trams to electric vehicles by 2025.
Now, its Florida parks are taking another step – eliminating paper maps.
Universal Park News Today reports that both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure will stop handing out paper maps as of Monday. Others have since confirmed that this is the case, claiming that this is the date stated on Universal’s travel agent website. Theme park journalist Alicia Stella also confirmed the rumor.
This announcement shouldn’t come as a total shock to Universal Orlando Resort regulars. For the past few years, the resort has heavily encouraged guests to use its app to navigate the parks and check wait times for popular attractions such as those found in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Over on the West Coast, Universal Studios Hollywood has already retired paper maps.
Other parks across the globe have made similar moves. Disneyland Paris also no longer offers guests paper maps. Neither does Tokyo Disney Resort, which requests that guests instead use the Tokyo Disney Resort app or website to help plan their trips to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.
For now, it’s not totally clear whether Universal will start phasing out maps from January 1 or eliminate them completely at the start of the New Year. Whatever the case, it’s the end of an era for both Florida theme parks – and the guests who collected paper maps as souvenirs for each vacation.
Inside the Magic reached out to Universal Orlando Resort for comment but has not heard back by the time of publication. We will update this article accordingly with any new information.